Book review: 50 Shades of Kink by Tristan Taormino

I was asked by Cleiss Press whether I would want to join their blog tour. In return for a review of the book, 50 Shades of Kink by Tristan Taormino they sent me the PDF version, as well as a hard copy of the book.

I wanted to read and review this book because of its intriguing and catching title. I have read the three other books that this title refers to, but I suspected that this book might be better than the trilogy. The fact that I feel there should be books out there that give the proper information about BDSM, made me want to know whether this book did that.

The author:
This is the first time I heard about Tristan Taormino, but I will definitely read more of her books. She is the author of seven other books and the editor of more than twenty-five anthologies. Tristan Taormino is an author, sex educator, speaker, film maker and radio host and she has won several awards. It rally intrigued me to read the ‘About the author’ section in the back of the book, as this woman really has done so much for sex positive feminism. Together with the piece in the book, wikipedia gives quite a good picture of who Tristan Taormino is.
You can also read more about her on her website.

The book:
The book itself has a lovely cover with heels and net tights and some satin ties, all done tastefully in black and red, which happens to be my favorite colors. Add white to that, and I am happy. And this has been added in the background and the title of the book is printed in white too. The subtitle of the book is ‘An introduction to BDSM’ and this is exactly what this book is about.

The book has 141 pages and consists of a foreword, an introduction, chapters 1 to 11, an epilogue, appendix with a reading list and a section telling more about the author.

The eleven chapters in the book cover the basics of BDSM, as promised on the cover. Any book can claim this, but not every book can live up to what it claims. This one does. It covers subject such as:

roles inside a BDSM relationship and role play;

the importance of communication between those roles, as well as safewords;

myths and truths about BDSM;

pleasure and orgasm control, including forced orgasms and orgasm denial;

depriving a submissive of senses by using blindfolds or hoods;

using candles, clamps and more for sensation play;

the basics of bondage, whether you do it yourself or someone else does it;

impact play, using hands, paddles and crops, but also floggers and canes;

rough sex, where it is explained that a top likes to take control and a bottom wants to be out of control.

Everything in the book is clear. Someone who is interested in BDSM and wants to know more, can read this book and he will know the basics.

My opinion:
Even though we have been in the lifestyle for quite some time and have more than just the basic knowledge, this book was far from boring to read. It was like a confirmation that what we do and how we do it, we do right. Not that I doubted that, but it’s nice to know that even though we never read any introductory book, we have been on the right track since the beginning.

This book is brilliant, written in a clear and to the point style and it gives all the basic information that is needed. For people who are interested in BDSM and think that it should be done in the same way Christian Grey did it, this book is a must read. Please do not follow Christian, but follow Tristan Taormino as she is the one who gives honest and correct information. To those in the lifestyle? You might just want to have this book in your collection, for when you get in the situation where others ask for your advice.

Uniforms... some love them, some hate them, some fantasize about them. Is it the uniform or the person wearing it? Come share your sexy uniform stories for #WickedWednesday or share any story you like, whether you follow the prompt or not! wp.me/p2yuUs-2zy#meme

Uniforms... some love them, some hate them, some fantasize about them. Is it the uniform or the person wearing it? Come share your sexy uniform stories for #WickedWednesday or share any story you like, whether you follow the #prompt or not! wp.me/p2yuUs-2zy#meme

Uniforms... some love them, some hate them, some fantasize about them. Is it the uniform or the person wearing it? Come share your sexy uniform stories for #WickedWednesday or share any story you like, whether you #follow the prompt or not! wp.me/p2yuUs-2zy#meme

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